Footwear Retail

Americans spend $76.3 billion on shoes every year

There are 333,626 footwear workers nationwide

Average pay for employees in U.S. shoe stores is over $17.00 per hour

Footwear remains one of the most beloved items Americans purchase. The U.S. imports over 7 pairs of shoes for every man, woman, and child in the country, and annual sales now top $81 billion. Footwear retail has changed dramatically from where shoes are sold to the styles and trends consumers are looking to buy. Footwear companies invest tens of millions of dollars each year in their people, stores, and platforms to ensure they deliver high quality shoes in a timely manner – in fact, footwear has one of the most robust supply chains in the world.

The industry is currently facing retail challenges like other industries: how to adapt to rapid consumer demand shifts, discounting and how to develop and implement speed to market strategies. Amid all the changes, footwear retailers continue to survive through the use of innovative and robust strategies both online and in shoe stores. If you love shoes, we encourage you to listen to our weekly podcast where we cover footwear retail topics, issues, and best practices to help retailers. We also encourage you to view our Shoeconomy website dedicated to telling the footwear industry’s story and contact FDRA if you seek more insights on footwear retail.

Visit Shoeconomy.us to see the visible footprint of the footwear industry across America.

Footwear retail insights from industry leaders

Retail Episodes

Brands and Business Episodes

FDRA’s Footwear Retail Program

FDRA represents and serves over 80% of all footwear distributors and retailers in America. To help its members understand and adapt to a changing retail landscape, FDRA produces a number of data reports and holds monthly calls related to footwear sales, as well as economic and retail trends impacting the industry. FDRA’s data and analysis covers multiple channels from shoe stores and department stores to internet sales. Below are samples and descriptions of various products and services FDRA provides its members. If you are an FDRA member, you can find the most up-to-date reports and newsletters located in the FDRA Intel Center. If you are not a member but are interested in joining to get FDRA’s full range of data, analysis and services, please contact FDRA.

In partnership with the NPD Group, this report measures and analyzes quarterly footwear sales exploring key market drivers to help companies see important trends from age, race, region, income, and product type. Many companies use this to enhance their sales and marketing programs.

FDRA sends out a national survey from time to time to shoe consumers asking questions about their buying preferences in order to better help companies understand new and changing spending patterns from price point, product, to what channels consumers are using to purchase shoes.

Navigating the complex European marketplace? FDRA publishes a monthly look at economic trends impacting European markets, and current and future consumer spending. This report also highlights current retail trends and European footwear import metrics, impacting inventory levels that drive pricing.